


Moment(s)

by Nolinjes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Paladins living together after the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 14:54:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16518620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nolinjes/pseuds/Nolinjes
Summary: It most likely started with what Lance said. Before long, Shiro buys them a house and the Paladins have a place to call home (and Cosmo finds joy in chasing the seagulls and teleporting to mud pits).





	Moment(s)

**Author's Note:**

> This was my piece written for Charles as a part of the [Keith birthday exchange](https://keith-birthday-exhange.tumblr.com). One of her wishes was about the Paladins living together, and as it gave me ideas, I grabbed that (and parts of some of the other ideas, too) and turned into a short fic.  
> I've also published this in my [Tumblr blog.](https://noelynes.tumblr.com)  
> I was the only beta for this, so all mistakes are mine (and can be pointed out, if you want to).

At first, it was a casual remark from Lance, “I sometimes miss living with you guys,” and then, another day, a wistful sigh from Pidge one evening when she was alone at home because her family was doing work all over the universe – “I really miss Hunk’s food.” The comments hadn’t been followed by an eager conversation of moving in together and them looking for a house, rather, they would often start to reminiscence their time in space, comparing living here to living out there (“At least we don’t have to wake up to those alarms all the time, anymore”).

—

“I really miss the quiet,” Keith said one day in a small conference room, after walking to the Academy and only being able to escape from the approaching eager first-year cadets because Cosmo had teleported him to the door, much to the joy of all the on-lookers.

Shiro looked at him without a word; he understood very well what he meant. It seemed no matter what the Paladins did these days, they drew in a crowd, with them being heroes and all. Lance enjoyed it most of the time, and Hunk was too kind to shoo away the admirers, even when all he would have wanted was some peace and quiet. Shiro was naturally loved by all but also respected enough for him to be able to at least walk mostly uninterrupted while on the campus. Yet he still agreed with Keith; sometimes, all he wanted was to go for a walk alone and in quiet, recover from an attack of memories without anyone stopping him and forcing a conversation on him, not noticing he wasn’t up for one. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d left his house without someone at least pointing at him and whispering in awe to their friends. The Lions and Atlas could take them wherever they wanted to go, to the quietest parts of the universe, but now that they had finally found their way home, they didn’t want to escape it.

—

Lance only had one demand when the Paladins of Earth started talking about where they would want to live if they could choose anywhere. “It would have to be near the sea.”

They all had their little things; Pidge wanted to live close enough to the city so the Internet connection wouldn’t suck – though the technology had advanced in leaps after her dad had returned home, so it ended up being nothing of a problem; Hunk said he’d love a proper kitchen, not some small corner with barely enough room to slice your bread. Keith said he still wanted to live somewhere peaceful, and Shiro had agreed. It wasn’t easy to be a hero when you got stopped anytime you so much as poked your head outside, and they both needed their privacy after all the warring.

—

Shiro was with Keith, watching the sun setting below the desert, turning the vast sandy plain into what looked like a red velvety blanket. “I found a place,” Shiro said.

“Hmm,” was Keith’s only answer, and Shiro didn’t say more. When he thought back on it, he really shouldn’t have been as surprised as he ended up being. He’d known before the others, after all.

—

What had originally been just a casual talk had turned into reality. Shiro, always the adult, had indeed found them the house, and only after he’d bought it, he informed the rest during their weekly get-together dinner, this time outside Keith’s shack. Money hadn’t been a problem for any of them for years, but everyone still told Shiro they would’ve liked to help him with the purchase, anyway. He’d had none of it. “Now I’ll have every right to kick you out if you don’t behave,” he joked. Keith and Lance shared a look but decided to remain quiet.

—

Moving in was somewhat chaotic, though it was mostly due to all the helping hands they got. The house was big enough for everyone to move around, but with more than ten people (and aliens and a cosmic wolf), it did get loud, and sometimes some messages didn’t go through as intended (though that still didn’t explain how the couch got down to the beach. Cosmo gave them an innocent look when asked about it, no doubt claiming he’d never even touched it).

—

Their first proper evening (the actual first being everyone feeling so exhausted after the long day they had just fallen asleep on the couch and on their mattresses), they had a small feast. They made pizza, played games, and watched a movie. The lights might’ve been out by the time it was midnight, but it didn’t stop the conversation from flowing.

“I’m really glad you found this place, Shiro,” Lance said quietly.

“Yeah, me too,” said Hunk.

Keith turned to lie on his stomach on the carpet. “Thanks, Shiro.”

“You’re welcome.”

—

Cosmo seemed to like the seagulls, Keith noticed. Not a morning went by without him chasing after them, though he never caught any of the birds (except that one time when the gull had been slow to react. He’d let it go right away, and Keith had sworn the wolf had looked a little apologetic), so it must’ve been just him playing around. And the birds did come back every morning, despite knowing better, so perhaps Cosmo wasn’t the only one enjoying himself.

—

The mud pit had made its existence known on their second week. It wasn’t even an unfortunate stumble behind Keith and his wolf finding themselves in there, no. Cosmo, ever the traitor, had no doubt found it while running around on his own. When Keith had joined it for a walk, Cosmo had led him to where he wanted them to go, and when a mouse of all things had startled the wolf, he had teleported them both. The mud pit had been their destination, and the mouse forgotten (Keith really doubted Cosmo had ever felt even slightly surprised by the critter), the wolf decided it was time to roll around and be messy.

Of course, he wouldn’t let Keith wash him, afterward. He looked at him with suspicion and stayed a good distance away.

“Fine,” Keith finally growled, “be dirty. But know you won’t get inside looking like that.” After a proper shower and a change of clothes, he’d feared he’d go downstairs only to see muddy pawprints everywhere.

Nothing.

The true surprise awaited him outside, where Hunk was washing the wolf, who in turn seemed to really enjoy himself. “Who’s the great space wolf, who?” Hunk cooed as he rubbed Cosmo’s belly to clean it. “Yes, you are, you are!”

It went without saying that from that point on, Hunk was the one responsible for keeping Cosmo, and subsequently their home, clean.

—

It was night when Keith stepped out of Black, closing his eyes and enjoying the wind smelling of rain blowing on his sweaty face. Somewhere, thunder rumbled. Anytime now, the rain would fall down and grace the nature with the water it had been without for weeks, now. Though his one-man mission had been on one of the rainiest planets he’d ever seen, he still wasn’t in a hurry to go back inside.

When the first cool drops hit his face, and he heard the door open to reveal Pidge, he smiled. Together, the two sat on the ledge above the ocean in silence, watching the raging waves hit the rock again and again. He was glad to be home, and he was glad he wasn’t alone, anymore.

–

Keith’s steps were soundless as he descended the stairs, one hand on the railing, the other combing through his tousled hair. The yawn he let out reminded him that it wouldn’t have hurt to sleep some more after staying up as late as he had, but the moment he’d woken up, he’d known he wouldn’t be falling asleep again.

The house was quiet, and the clock on the wall told it was only little away from sunrise. Keith walked across the living room, stopping when he saw both Lance and Pidge sprawled on the couch. Hunk had made himself comfortable on the soft carpet on the floor, with a pillow and his arm under his head and Cosmo sleeping on top of him. Not a snore broke the silence, and Keith was careful not to wake any of them up when he covered them with blankets with a small smile on his face. The three of them had been busy all day, arranging Keith’s (not-so) surprise birthday party, and then they’d been up no doubt much later than Keith had, so they deserved their rest. He stepped to the table in front of the couch and took the empty plates discarded on it before heading to the kitchen.

Once there, Keith piled some leftover snacks from yesterday on a plate; sandwiches and a slice of pizza, a homemade chocolate chip cookie, and some vegetables. He had just placed it on the heavy table when he looked outside from the wall-sized window. The ocean spread further than his eyes could see, joining with the lightly clouded sky in the far-away distance. The sky was growing paler as the sun was waking up, and Keith decided to enjoy his breakfast on the veranda, instead.

He stepped into the brisk morning, taking a deep breath of the ocean air before sitting down on a chair, stretching his legs. His eyes were on the ocean, where the waves crashed on the beach down below, and the seagulls cried above. One of them landed on the porch with a fish in its beak, and he watched as it swallowed its catch and then screamed something (he thought it sounded like profanities. Seagulls were rude birds, but he liked them). For a short moment, he was tempted to throw a piece of food at it, but he knew better. They’d never let them eat in peace again if he did.

The bird took flight as the door opened. Keith didn’t have to look up to know who it was, he recognized the person by his steps. “Morning,” Shiro greeted as he sat down on the other side of the table. Cosmo had come with him and stopped by Keith’s feet to look at him. He scratched him behind his ears, though he knew the space wolf was after his breakfast, not attention. Not that it stopped him from closing his eyes and leaning into his hand, anyway.

“Morning.”

Shiro only had a cup of coffee with him, but he evidently had at least some appetite since he casually snatched a sandwich from Keith’s plate. Keith was glad to notice the man didn’t look tired. He still often expected to see the weary face he had been so used to seeing when their adventure began and was somehow still pleasantly surprised every time he saw him refreshed and unburdened by his night living in the past. The restless nights were there for them all, but they had had two years to enjoy the peace and recover, and it wasn’t always bad, anymore. They had each other, whether they needed to talk or just wanted someone to lean on.

Cosmo flicked his ears when Shiro spoke after a long silence, “They outdid themselves this year, didn’t they.”

“Every year,” Keith said, ‘accidentally’ dropping the ham from his sandwich in front of Cosmo. The wolf devoured it in less than a second. “You really think I didn’t know what you guys were planning when you asked me to help you in town.”

Shiro chuckled. “And yet you came.”

He had, hadn’t he? Just like he had last year. Before that, it had been a stop at a lush planet because Hunk ‘really wanted to stock up with something new and that planet had a lot of edible stuff there.’ Long before that, when the castle had still been there, it’d been an invitation there, and before that… He looked at Shiro, realizing he’d never asked, “Why did you ever tell them?”

Shiro shrugged. “At the time, it looked like they could use a break. Your birthday was around the corner.”

Keith shook his head, amused. “You guys could’ve celebrated Halloween.”

“I guess we just really wanted to see you.”

“Glad you did.” It would be as close to admitting he had often missed them, too, as he’d get.

They watched the sunrise without speaking another word, enjoying the peace of the home that they had found.


End file.
